1988 Celica GT-Four

[CelicaST-162]

I know this one person that has a 1988 Toyota Celica All-Trac Turbo, its in really bad shape body has rust spots, dents, interior is a disaster, engine has a BHG, burns oil. My question is, the fact that it is a rare car, is it worth restoring? thanks

[hjr]

NO. they are not that expensive to pick up, you just have to find one. Also, a MAJOR pain in the ass to work on. Not as much power as they should have, and what else.... i dunno, thats it i guess.

If its like a grand just pick her up as a beater and run it till it dies (or the clutch burns out. I believe the book time on a clutch is some rediculus number like 21 hours)

[CelicaST-162]

Yeah, I do agree they are a pain to work on from experience, 21 hours on a clutch??? how does that work?

[hjr]

the engine has to come out and lots of other junk needs to be done. But thats hearsay. I believe it, but take it for what its worth.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Haha 21 hours thats insane....I wonder what the hell would have to be removed.

[EK 2.0]

When I used to work at Toyota...the 90-93 All-Tracs, had to have the engines removed in order to service/replace the clutch...If that ride is cheap man pick it up, they are very rare rides, and are a blast...I used to own an 89...

Pick it up, Fix it up and then you can Rip it up...


just my two cents though Bro...

[CelicaST-162]

yeah thanks for all the replies, the car has 233,000kms, and the owner is firm on 2000....im trying to bargain well see how it turns out.

[EK 2.0]

If you have the cash man...take it and mod the hell outta it...they handle great as stock cars...and if you place some money into that suspension...you are gonna have a killer Auto-X car man...plus any Toyota Turbo engine is very easy to make power with...so do consider it if its within your budget bro...


If you have questions or whatever pm me...

Arif.

[GT-FOUR]

Hello,

I own an '88 GT-Four actually.

Absolutely wicked car. If you can get it for $2000 that is a STEAL. Retail on them if in decent shape is ~$5-8000.

They are RARE as hell. 26,500 produced worldwide. Toyota used them in the WRC for many years, and won several championships with the car driven by Carlos Sainz. There's maybe 5-10 in Calgary.

Specs:

190hp, 190 ft-lbs
Full time 4WD, 50/50 power split to front/rear
Turbo, water to air intercooler
Factory boost is 7psi
ABS, power everything, 4 wheel disk brakes
15.6 @ 88mph stock in the 1/4 mile

YES it is worth buying and restoring.

Id believe it could take 21 hours to change the clutch. ST162: The ST165 (gt4) is a much different animal than the GT or GTS models. The engine has to be pulled. If you know what you are doing you could probably do it quicker. Also, you will save a huge amount of money if you aren't afraid to take a wrench to the car when something needs to be done. Remember, the car is 15 years old so things will start to break, wear out, etc. If it needs a head gasket that is a good excuse to install a metal one and some high quality head studs. Also a good time to do other mods as well.

300hp is actually pretty easy to reach with this engine. It uses the 3SGTE, which is also used in the mk2 mr2's. Argueably one of the best japanes motors ever built.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. I know pretty much everything there is to know about the engine, and have done a tonne of work to it in my car.

Here are some decent sites to check out for info:

www.alltrac.net
www.celica.net
www.allwheelmotion.com
www.gt4oc.com
http://member.newsguy.com/~gtfour/ (owners site, info on mods/potential)
http://165.4gencelica.net (my site)

+ there are tonnes of message boards on the car...it has a huge following worldwide, for a reason.


Hope this helps you out.

Cheers,

Chris

[Toms-Celica]

Chris knows a lot about GT-FOUR's. He's the man :thumbsup:

[hjr]

my point is that :

2000 - buy
1000 - Engine
500+ - turbo
500 - body work
1500 - paint
1000 - inertior
-------------------
6500. thats not a bad price for a all-trac in good condition, but thats also 6 to 12 months later... But whatever, its his choice. Its cool to see an all-trac dude on here though.

[C4S]

Yes .. $ 2k for a All Trac ?

what a deal, spend like $3k on it ! still only $5K in total !

They are sweet car ! rare ! (conside a 18 yr old corolla sells for $4500, and 19 yr old Mr 2 for $7500 :eek: :eek: )
If you don't buy it . I buy it ! :D

[mutsuraboshi]

Originally said by Jonny Tran's cousin
it's a beautiful machine...

mmm i love awd turbo's... if in the future i have any extra pocket change.
i would love to restore a isuzu impulse awd turbo rs :drool:

[Danger_Mouse]

Originally posted by CelicaST-162
My question is, the fact that it is a rare car, is it worth restoring?

I beleive we have come to a concensus.... YES!!! Get it man!!

[GT-FOUR]

Thats true, but to be fair, he would have a fresh engine that would last...if you did buy one for 6500 as is, there is always the chance that something will go right away...happened to me.

Depends what you are after. Again the costs of things depend a lot on how willing you are to touch a wrench yourself.

Buy a jdm engine and you'd be set for probably pretty cheap. If you sold off the old engine parts you could probably swap engines for close to nothing. (doing your own work)

Oh..and not to be picky but alltrac doesnt have a k. ;)

:)

Chris


Originally posted by hjr
my point is that :

2000 - buy
1000 - Engine
500+ - turbo
500 - body work
1500 - paint
1000 - inertior
-------------------
6500. thats not a bad price for a all-track in good condition, but thats also 6 to 12 months later... But whatever, its his choice. Its cool to see an all-track dude on here though.

[CelicaST-162]

Yeah, the clutch on my 87' GTS took 24 hours, including having the engine removed...what a pain in the ass!

[hooligan]

Vichy, it is a good deal, but can you afford it?

I'll help you with the head gasget, just think, All wheel drive burn outs!!!!:drool:

O and this car has a turbo Timer, I seen it, Sweet car.

one question, does it burn oil cause of the blow head gasket?